Win or lose in the World Baseball Classic championship game against Puerto Rico tonight, Dominican Republic general manager Moises Alou knows what he will do Wednesday. That is, take a vacation.

Since Alou, 46, retired from playing four years ago, he says, “I haven’t felt much like I have been retired.”

Moises Alou has excelled as a general manager in his native Dominican Republican since retiring from baseball in 2009. (AP Photo)

Soon after he announced his retirement from a distinguished playing career at the 2009 WBC, Alou was asked to buy into a Dominican Republic team, Leones del Escogido. When he declined the offer, he still was asked to be part of the team in some way.

All he has done is put together a championship team in three of the past four seasons, including the one just completed.

The past year has been particularly hectic for Alou. His success with Escogido led to the offer of being the general manager of the Dominican team in the 2013 WBC. Alou began assembling the roster last summer by putting together a list of 50 players, of which he said “not many” are in San Francisco for the championship.

While building the WBC team, he also worked on the draft for Escogido. Then came its season, which concluded with an 18-inning loss in the Caribbean Series championship game Feb. 8. Then it was off to WBC duty.

Alou’s winning touch has continued. Since the Dominicans pounded the Philadelphia Phillies for 28 hits in a 15-2 rout in their first exhibition two weeks ago, they haven’t lost. They are 7-0 in the WBC and will try to become the first team to finish the tournament undefeated when Sam Deduno, who started the victory over Team USA, takes the mound against Puerto Rico at 8 p.m ET.

While the WBC has yet to capture the attention of most U.S. sports fans, it is huge enough in the Dominican for the president to implore the team “to lift up the country” with its performance. As one member of the Dominican contingent said before the game against Team USA, “I hope there’s not a fire (in the Dominican) tonight because there will be no one to put it out. Everyone will be watching the game.”

A six-time All-Star and a .303 hitter in 17 major league seasons, Alou understands the passion for the sport in his country. He is a member of what could be called the country’s first family of baseball. He has a home in South Florida but spends most of his time in his homeland.

“I love my country,” he said.

Alou also loves thoroughbred horses and figures to spend the next several weeks kicking back and preparing for his annual trip to the Kentucky Derby. He won’t turn off his phone, though, if a big league team calls.

He says he would move back to the U.S. if a club called “with the right opportunity.” He said he isn’t sure what that would be, but it is unlikely he would turn down an opportunity to be a GM. That looks like a long shot these days. Unlike yesteryear when former top players often became general managers, a team would be bucking the statistical-analysis trend to install the old-school Alou as GM.

Alou says he will not lose any sleep if his phone doesn’t ring. He might want to find out what it is like to really be retired for a while.